The world's deep oceans are warming at a slower but more dramatic rate than on the water's surface, signalling a grim outlook for deep-sea creatures, a study has found.
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The international research, published in Nature Climate Change on Tuesday, found climate velocity was occurring twice as fast at the ocean surface because of greater surface warming.
The metric "climate velocity" defines the likely speed and direction a species would shift as the ocean warms.
"However by the end of the century, assuming we have a high-emissions future, there is not only much greater surface warming but also this warmth will penetrate deeper," said lead researcher Isaac Brito-Morales, a PhD student at the University of Queensland.
The researcher said climate velocity differs at different ocean levels, "which poses huge challenges to the ways we design protected areas."
University of Queensland Professor Anthony Richardson said "no matter what we do now," deep ocean marine life will face escalating threats until the end of the century, because of how the surface has already warmed.
The researchers calculated the climate velocity in four ocean depth zones from 1955 to 2005 and then projected figures for 2050 to 2100 using data from 11 climate models.
One example of the flow-on effects of warming given by researchers was on tuna that lived between 200 and 1,000 metres deep, but relied on plankton for food near the surface.
Australian Associated Press
